From the US to Pakistan, almost all top international media houses covered the historic Ayodhya verdict by Supreme Court on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.

HIGHLIGHTS

Verdict handed the PM and his followers a major victory in their quest to remake the country as Hindu: NYT

The Washington Post also called Ayodhya verdict as a "major victory" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Pakistan-based The Express Tribune called Ayodhya verdict a "huge victory for Hindu nationalists under PM Modi"

Almost all top international media houses covered the historic Ayodhya verdict by Supreme Court on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.

On Saturday, the Supreme Court of India backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

Delivering a unanimous judgement on a case that has long polarised the country and frayed the secular tapestry of Indian society, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the faith of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed.

From US to Pakistan, the foreign media houses covered this landmark judgment. Here is how the foreign media reported:

The New York Times wrote "Court Backs Hindus on Ayodhya, Handing Modi Victory in His Bid to Remake India". The article, authored by Maria Abi-Habib and Sameer Yasir, describe the Ayodhya verdict as a major victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"India's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hindus on Saturday in a decades-old dispute over a holy site contested by Muslims, handing the prime minister and his followers a major victory in their quest to remake the country as Hindu and shift it further from its secular foundation."

The Washington Post reported "India's Supreme Court clears way for a Hindu temple at country's most disputed religious site". The report, authored by Joanna Slater, called the Ayodhya verdict a "major victory" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The verdict awarded the land at the heart of the clash to a Hindu litigant over Muslim objections and represents a major victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi," wrote The Washington Post.

"The building of a temple to the Hindu god Ram in the town of Ayodhya is a long-cherished goal of Hindu nationalists and a key objective of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party."

The Washington Post, in its report, called India "fundamentally a Hindu nation" and "not the secular republic promoted by the country's founders".

"Modi won reelection in a landslide in May and has moved swiftly to implement his agenda. To Modi and his party, India is fundamentally a Hindu nation, not the secular republic promoted by the country's founders," The Washington Post said.

The Guardian, in its report authored by Hannah Ellis-Petersen, also called the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya case a "huge victory" for PM Narendra Modi.

"The ruling, just six months after his landslide election win, is another huge victory for India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government, which have made the restoration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya a focal point of their Hindu nationalist agenda," The Guardian reported.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that its correspondents in court say they heard chants of "Jai Shree Ram" (Hail Lord Ram) outside as the judgement was pronounced.

BBC's Soutik Biswas further analysing the judgment in the report said: "What was arguably one of the world's most contentious property dispute has finally come to an end. The dispute over the plot has polarised, frustrated and exhausted India."

"The reason is that this is not a humdrum civil matter. It was touched by faith (Hindus believe the plot was the birthplace of Lord Ram, a revered deity) violence (the demolition of the mosque in 1992) and subterfuge (idols of Lord Ram were placed in the mosque surreptitiously in 1949)."

The BBC further said "Saturday's unanimous judgement by the five most senior judges of the court will hopefully lead to some reconciliation that the country badly needs."

CNN, in its report, wrote "Hindus allowed to build on disputed holy site, India's Supreme Court rules". The joint report by Helen Regan, Swati Gupta and Manveena Suri explained the judgment and gave a brief history to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. CNN said the Ayodhya verdict on Saturdary ended "one of the country's most politically charged land disputes".

HOW PAKISTANI MEDIA REPORTED

Meanwhile, Pakistan-based Dawn in its report said that Ayodhya verdict is "likely to affect the already fraught relationship between India's Muslim and Hindu communities".

"The court's unanimous decision is likely to have a significant impact on fraught relations between India's Hindus and Muslims, who constitute 14 per cent of its 1.3 billion people," the Dawn reported.

Another Pakistani media outlet Geo TV also reported that the "Indian Supreme Court on Saturday ruled that the disputed Babri Mosque land should be given to the Hindus, while ordering the Muslims be allotted an alternate land as a replacement for the destroyed Babri Mosque".

Meanwhile, The Express Tribune wrote "India SC rules to hand over Babri Mosque land to Hindus" and called the Ayodhya verdict a "huge victory" for PM Narendra Modi.

"India's top court cleared the way on Saturday for a Hindu temple to be constructed at a hotly disputed holy site, in a huge victory for Hindu nationalists under Prime Minister Narendra Modi," The Express Tribune reported.